‘Sadhay 14 August’ to finally launch this Independence Day after a decade in the making

Anwar Maqsood concludes his Independence day trilogy with much-awaited play

After 10 years, Anwar Maqsood is returning with the third part to conclude his iconic trilogy on Independence Day titled Saadhay 14 August, set to premiere on the day Pakistan came into being.

The project began in 2011 with Pawnay 14 August which positively changed the state of theatre in the country. It was then followed with a second part titled Sawa 14 August and then the series did not see a continuation for a decade. According to Maqsood, the scriptwriter, he was hoping for the country to see better days ahead to conclude with a complete 14 august instead of the fragments of time in the title.

“Theatre changed, people changed and I was here waiting for the country’s situation to improve to conclude with a complete stage play titled ‘14 August’ but that didn’t happen. At my age, how long could I wait?” said Maqsood.

The poster for Saadhay 14 August sees the cut outs of founders of both nations – Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi on top along with the outlines of maps of their respective countries. KopyKat Production’s Instagram page uploaded a snippet from an interview where Maqsood is asked about which of the leaders is a better one in his script and opinion.

 

 

 

 

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“They’re both great leaders. If you put the two on a weighing scale, they’ll balance each other out. One side won’t be heavier than the other especially since they were both slim like each other,” quipped the legendary writer. “To say Jinnah just to garner a loud applause from my audience in Pakistan will be unfair to Gandhi and to say Gandhi in India for the same reason will be unfair to Jinnah and my pen stops there. However, my pen didn’t stop or hesitate when it came to what people say about these leaders here.”

The Dawar Mehmood directorial is highly anticipated not only because of the trilogy’s success in previous years and Maqsood’s writing but also given the current economic and political chaos in the country.

A sarcastic and rather truthful commentary of how the leaders envisioned the country while fighting for independence and freedom movement while living a stark different reality is much needed now and we can’t wait to go on a rollercoaster of emotions with the cast on stage.